Long Beach Camping and Touring Site, Hemsby, Norfolk

Posted by Tracey on 4th May 2017

PackThePJs are spending our summer at Long Beach Camping and Touring Site in Norfolk 🙂 We are fortunate enough to own a touring caravan. We bought her (Betsy) back in 2012 and have enjoyed many adventures with her. She’s been towed all the way to Switzerland. We spent a damp and soggy week in a beautiful campsite on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. And we’ve stayed in Wales, throughout the South West of the UK, and at various sites throughout East Anglia and the north of England.

Recently though we’ve stayed closer to home as I’ve found the whole towing/setting up quite tiring (I’m getting old!) Luckily though, we have an amazing coastline just 2 hours away and for the 2017 season Betsy is pitched at the Long Beach Camping and Touring Site in Hemsby, Norfolk.

Can’t beat a camping BBQ!

Over the course of the summer we will visit often, and will report on many of the brilliant things there are to do/visit while being based there. But first, I want to tell you all about this campsite, and why it is the perfect base for a visit to the East Anglia coast.

Long Beach Camping and Touring Site: Where is it?

Long Beach Camping and Touring Site is located in Hemsby, Norfolk. It is within the boundary of a private estate, which also includes part of the Winterton Great Valley and over 40 acres of rolling sand dunes and a beautiful sandy beach. The Winterton Great Valley is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Looking over the valley towards the dunes and beach

From our caravan we can be on the beach within 5 minutes – a quick walk through the campsite (mainly static caravans); there are several paths through the dunes to the beach. Within 5-10 minutes (walking) you can be at the amusement arcades and fast food outlets in Hemsby. I’ll talk more about ‘things to do’ further in this post.

Long Beach Camping and Touring Site: What facilities are there?

Everything you need is within a short distance of your caravan or tent – that’s the joy of this site. The campsite is predominantly static caravans, with a grassed area with electrical hook ups for tourers and tents. I’m not sure what the capacity is, but I’ll guess around 12-15 pitches in total (I shall find out and update).

Within a few feet there is a well maintained and clean toilet block, with outside tap, a dishwashing area, and chemical disposal. Showers are located in a separate block further into the park, around 80-100 metres away. These are free to use, and are lovely and hot (heated between 8am and 8pm). There’s also a self-service coin-operated launderette.

Adjacent to the touring and tent pitches you will find a children’s play area for children up to 12 years old. There’s a range of swings and climbing apparatus here – and a great place for children to make new friends. There are smaller play areas around the site, but this is the main one.

The play area adjacent to the touring pitches

Long Beach Camping and Touring Site: Long Beach Stores

The on-site Long Beach Store has all the essentials (plus more) that you’ll need for your stay. The prices are competitive too, so I’d suggest you use the shop for items as and when you need them. Milk, sausages, bacon, butter, cheese, burgers, salad items, tinned items, biscuits, chilled drinks, wine and beer, sweets, newspapers … also dog biscuits (Izzy and Jack were most grateful!), washing up liquid and pocket money toys and gifts.

Long Beach Camping and Touring Site: Dolphin Lounge Bar

Within 50 steps of our caravan is the Dolphin Lounge Bar.

While I was away on an assignment Huw grabbed the opportunity to sample the cold beer – he thoroughly approved it!

Enjoying a pint at the Dolphin Lounge Bar

The Dolphin Lounge Bar is a great facility: it serves good food, offers a variety of live evening entertainment, and has a children’s area and a pool table. Huw spent two hours chatting to one of the local residents: this is what’s so nice about Long Beach Camping and Touring site – you are among a small community of friendly residents and visitors. The bar is dog-friendly, and this is one of the benefits of this part of East Anglia as people love dogs here!

Finally, while mentioning facilities, Wi-Fi is good around the whole site (codes are available from the main office).

Long Beach Camping and Touring Site: What’s there to do?

Lots! So far we’ve not needed to use the car as there’s lots to do on foot from the campsite. The children love the amusements and ‘bright lights’ of Hemsby – a short 10 minute walk from our caravan.

Millie-Mae with her grab machine ‘winnings’

Our dogs love love love the beach and opportunities for major walks. The Norfolk Coastal Path passes through and you can walk for miles and miles in splendid isolation 🙂 The beach is good for fishing: talking to some fishermen you can catch a wide range of fish – whiting, bass, flounder, smooth hounds, mackerel in the warmer weather etc. Seals have occasionally been spotted on the beach too. Huw took the dogs on a 4 hour walk last weekend. He saw some beautiful sights and found a stand-out café … look out for our post on this!

Enjoying the beach

You can easily spend a few days without needing to drive anywhere.

However, if you want to explore further afield, there’s SO MUCH to do! Five miles south of Hemsby is Great Yarmouth, with all there is to offer there (Sea Life Centre, Pleasure Beach, model village, crazy golf, tropical swimming pool, pier, lots of amusements). There are also the historic docks and six museums to explore.

Within a similar distance to Great Yarmouth you can reach the Norfolk Broads. Maybe hire a cruiser for the day to explore the rivers (we plan to)? There’s also Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens, one of Norfolk’s top zoo attractions.

18 miles from Hemsby is the city of Norwich. Here you’ll find many historic buildings and cobbled streets, the Norman Cathedral and Norwich Castle. Of course there’s also a bustling market and extensive shopping centre too.

Lowestoft and Oulton Broad can also be reached in 18 miles.

Simply put – there’s a lot to keep you busy! No chance of running out of things to do …

Long Beach Camping and Touring Site: Contact details and rates

For up-to-date rates and to book a pitch at Long Beach Camping and Touring Site, please click here. You can also phone 01493 730023.

Had to click on this post. We love Norfolk. Going on the broads for our holiday this year…so excited. Used to go year after year then stopped when we had the kids. So looking forward to my two experiencing living on a boat for a week.